Unable to OTA update on iPad, can on iPhone

[jsf23]

I'm sitting here with an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4. I can't do an OTA update on the iPad, but I can (and did) on my iPhone. More detail:

I never updated either from 5.0 to 5.0.1. I must have chosen to download (and not install) 5.0.1 on the iPad, but never did on my iPhone. With 5.1 out, I decided to finally take care of the updates in both devices.

On the iPad, I've had the software update badge on Settings for a while, due to the download. I went into Software Update and tapped install, it spins with "Verifying Update" for a while, and returns back with "Unable to verify update" and tells me the iPad doesn't have an Internet connection. Needless to say, it does. I'm home, on wifi, and it's connected just fine (I'm typing this from the iPad). This has been been ongoing for 3 days now.

On my iPhone, I went into Software Update, saw that 5.1 was available. I downloaded and installed, nice and quick, no problems at all.

My gut feeling is that the old 5.0.1 update has been deleted from the iPad somehow, but iOS thinks it's still there and is trying to verify a downloaded package that's gone. It won't move "past it" and let me go right to 5.1, because it's stuck trying to verify.

Any suggestions from anyone? Is there a way to force my iPad to move past? Do I just need to plug it into my MacBook and let iTunes do it's ridiculously slow process?

 

[Arelunde]

Don't know if this will work/help ... try updating the iPad using iTunes. If you didn't update to 5.0 way back when, you can't get an update download. I don't know if this is the problem, but using iTunes might work.

Also, for a direct download, your iPad 2 needs to be connected to wifi (as you said it was) and plugged into a power source. Perhaps the power issue is the hangup??

 

[jsf23]

Thanks.

To clarify, I am on 5.0. What I skipped was 5.0.1. And I've tried, always on wifi, both on power and off power (with a full charge).

Sadly, I may have to suck it up and deal with iTunes, which I was hoping to avoid.

 

[shoulin333]

Did you make sure you have enough free space? Mine needed over a gig of free space even though the install file itself was only like 340mb. Maybe it doesn't have enough room to decompress the files?

 

[jsf23]

Did you make sure you have enough free space? Mine needed over a gig of free space even though the install file itself was only like 340mb. Maybe it doesn't have enough room to decompress the files?

4.2GB available, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I haven't had a chance to update iTunes to the latest and attach my iPad to it to see how that goes, but I will this weekend. Hopefully, it'll update as normal, and then future OTA updates will go as planned.

 

[Kyotoma]

1. Never just click "update" in iTunes. That's your first problem and I'll agree that it is a slow, painful process for both Windows and OS X users. Always find the new .IPSW file online(iClarified.com usually has the direct link from Apple's servers the same day it releases), and shift(or option in OS X, which is your case)+click and direct Explorer(or Finder) to the downloaded .IPSW file. This way ensures that should something fail with the update or restore process, you'll still have the firmware file at hand, which the process through iTunes does not retain.
2. Have you tried a soft reset of your iPad to see if the update works? Hold the power and home buttons until you see the Apple Logo appear on your screen, then release both buttons. Wait for it to reboot fully, and then try the update again.

Tips for restoring: It's been a practice of mine to always enter DFU mode when restoring an iOS device, even if the device is responsive before restoring. DFU mode ensures that your iPhone is in the proper state to reflash its entire storage memory to stock iOS.

How to enter DFU mode: from any screen on the iOS device, while plugged in to your Mac/PC with iTunes running, hold both the power and home buttons until the screen turns off. Count a full second in your head(or aloud, I usually go with the Mississippi-trick from childhood, but you can use any 4-syllable word, really), then release the power button and keep the home button pressed. It might take up to a minute, but after usually 30 seconds, iTunes will issue a pop-up message saying that it has detected an <insert iOS device here> that needs to be restored. Then proceed as needed. Downloading the proper .IPSW file ahead of time helps cut down the actual restoring process, as downloading through iTunes always takes forever.

 

[waw74]

also, never fill the gas tank in your car without doing a compete engine rebuild first, and putting new tires on.

my ipad 2 had similar problems, it sat there spinning on verifying for quite a while. i rebooted the ipad, clicked update on the iPad and it re-downloaded and installed 5.1 fine. i was coming from 5.0.1 though.

 

[jsf23]

waw74 wins the thread.

I tried rebooting, and tried & tried to get it to verify the 5.0.1 update, and nothing ever worked. Then this morning, as I get into work, my iPad gives me a popup saying that 5.1 is available for download. I'm not going to argue with this... My wifi speed is abysmal at work, so I'm going to do this tonight when I get home and move on. And do future iOS updates sooner...

 

[iClive]

If that still doesn't work, try setting your DNS on the wifi to 8.8.8.8 (GoogleDNS) as documented in another thread.

 

[jsf23]

If that still doesn't work, try setting your DNS on the wifi to 8.8.8.8 (GoogleDNS) as documented in another thread.

Thanks. I may have forgotten to mention earlier that I did try this with no luck. Hopefully all goes well with the standard 5.0 to 5.1 OTA update later tonight.

 

[jsf23]

Score! I don't know why or how 5.1 decided to appear after 5.0.1 failing, but the OTA update worked.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.